Queuing to buy bread in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, January 2017 (RD)

People living in Khartoum state are complaining about a severe fuel, cooking gas, and bread crisis. The prices of consumer goods are again soaring.

A number of residents told Radio Dabanga that the price of a cylinder of cooking gas increased to to SDG 200 (*$11) owing to the scarcity of the product.

Agents distributing cooking gas attributed the scarcity of fuel and gas to the reduced import and the temporary closure of the Khartoum refinery because of maintenance.

The head of the Cooking Gas Agents Union, El Sadig El Tayeb, told reporters that the available quantity of gas does not meet the needs of the capital’s residents. He pointed to the depletion of the cooking gas reserves in the state, and said that the imports do not cover the cooking gas gap.

The shortage of cooking gas in Khartoum has also exacerbated the bread crisis in many parts of the city.

Owners of bakeries who were already complaining about the limited flour rations allocated to them, now had to close their doors again because of the lack of cooking gas.

At the same time, the markets in Khartoum are again witnessing a hike in the prices of consumer goods, especially sugar. The price increases are attributed to the monopoly by certain traders.